Arsenal is the strongest team in the Premier since Odegaard was reunited with Gabriel Jesús in the starting lineup, on November 23 against Notingham Forest. Between the Norwegian midfielder and the Brazilian attacker they established the network of complicities that multiplied the associations, the unchecking, the enthusiasm and the general camaraderie. Arsenal remembered the team that launched its title bid with dazzling football in the autumn of 2022. “We have the best Gabby back!” proclaimed coach Mikel Arteta. The only drawback, as indicated by the club, is that Arteta does not seem very convinced of reproducing the formula that provides him with the best results. Decisions like this Saturday in Brighton, where they tied 1-1 after leaving Odegaard on the bench, have perplexed the technical commission, the American owners, and a good part of the players of a club that feels that the time has come to give the blow.
1
Bart Verbruggen, Joël Veltman, Pervis Estupiñán, Igor Julio (Adam Webster, min. 65), Jan Paul van Hecke, Brajan Gruda (Yankuba Minteh, min. 45), Matt O’Riley (Georginio Rutter, min. 45), Simon Adingra (Kaoru Mitoma, min. 61), Carlos Baleba, Yasin Ayari and João Pedro
1
David Raya, Thomas Partey, Gabriel Magalhães, William Saliba, Riccardo Calafiori, Mikel Merino, Declan Rice, Jorginho (Martin Ødegaard, min. 63), Gabriel Jesus, Ethan Nwaneri (Gabriel Martinelli, min. 45) and Leandro Trossard
Goals
0-1 min. 15: Ethan Nwaneri. 1-1 min. 60: João Pedro
Referee Anthony Taylor
yellow cards
Ethan Nwaneri (min. 45), Veltman (min. 63), Yankuba Minteh (min. 81), Merino (min. 83), Riccardo Calafiori (min. 89)
It was Arteta who last season decided to postpone Gabriel Jesús as a substitute, a strategic measure that according to the leaders could have cost them the league that City finally won. Now the same leaders gunners,According to internal sources who prefer anonymity, they anticipate problems in the leader, Liverpool, and consider that Arsenal will be favorites for the title as long as Arteta promotes the importance of the Rice-Odegaard-Jesús axis instead of promoting Kai Havertz to the condition of a man orchestra. Even though last year he played an average of 75 minutes in 51 games, his performance did not increase the competitiveness of the team.
The crisis manifested itself in Villa Park last April. Then Odegaard was about to lose the calm that is supposed to be the captain. From all sectors of the club they have been sending messages to Arteta asking him to give up turning Havertz, whom he asked to sign for 75 million euros, into the cornerstone of the project by making him play in positions – nine or interior – for which He is not qualified because he is a playmaker. The unrest was growing in the locker room and in the Arsenal offices, from London to Denver, when on November 10, at Chelsea’s field, Havertz was perplexed in the pivot position while Pedro Neto advanced and finished off the final 1-1. He watched the action as if he were a spectator and Odegaard, distraught, threw an imprecation at him that represented the frustration of the squad. In the next game, against Forest, Havertz was a substitute and Odegaard and Gabriel Jesús met for the first time since the start. Since then, and until yesterday, the team did not stop growing.
Now Havertz is questioned and Arteta promotes innovative rotations – sometimes Rice, sometimes Odegaard – while the German has gone on the casualty list without an injury being specified. “Yes, I think he is ready to return,” he said on Friday, without adding more. But in Brighton Havertz did not appear and Odegaard, to the astonishment of the leaders, went to the bench. The Norwegian only entered the field after the hour of action, after the tie (1-1), a penalty goal from Joao Pedro. Brighton didn’t do much else, but it was enough against an opponent who never quite got into position. At times he pressed, at times he speculated, and in the course of the lurches even his most courageous players, like Rice or Odegaard, lost conviction and security in what they were doing. The tie will allow Liverpool, leader with five points ahead and two games less, to receive United without pressure this Sunday.
4-1 from City to Lopetegui’s West Ham
The grown Chelsea tied again, at Crystal Palace (1-1), Emery’s Aston Villa beat the squalid Leicester (2-1), and City took another step towards the exit of the tunnel. Led by Bernardo Silva who defends like a lion who does not stop asking for the ball, whether it is given well or badly, Manchester City beat West-Ham and its fans were able to celebrate two victories in a row after two months of instability and bad luck.
West Ham served as a painkiller for the suffering City. The east London team finds itself stuck in the middle of the table with one of the best squads in England. They had just suffered a 0-5 defeat against Liverpool. With headwinds since the season began, the coach, Juelen Lopetegui, far from projecting an idea of serenity, has dislocated the locker room, sometimes presenting himself as a father, other times as a tyrant, in an erratic attempt to lay the foundations for his leadership. The players show signs of mental fatigue, or exhaustion, and at the first stumble they fall. At the Etihad they started by wasting three very clear chances and conceded an own goal, after a cross from Savinho. The 1-0 scoreline sank West Ham without City having to show their best against a defense that did not score. The most hopeful news for Guardiola’s team was the restoration of Savinho, at least for an afternoon. Far from the melancholic shadow that overwhelmed him in recent months, the young Brazilian exhibited his most elusive and participatory version. Haaland thanked him for two assists and the evening ended in balmy mode (4-1) for Guardiola’s long-suffering team, which remains in sixth position.
